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Patented Oct. 4, |898.

C. S. WHEELWRIGHT. STRAINING WHEEL FOR LIOUIDS.

(Application led Oct. 13, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet l.

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No. 6||,a79. Patented out. 4, |898. c. s. wHEELwmGHT.

STRAINING WHEEL FR LIOUIDS.

(Application med on. 1s, 1897.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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66656, Inventor J5@ I l l n M4/MW me Noms PETERS co, PHQTOLITHQ. WASHING-m, D. c

No. 6|l,879. Patented Oct. 4, i898. C. S. WHEELWHIGHT.

STRAINING WHEEL FUR LIGUIDS.

(Application filed Det, 13, 1897.) (No Model.) v 3 .Sheets-Sheet 3.

Jes t, F2 Inventor, ya@ www Tn: Hemus PETERS coA. Pnmaumo., wAsmNe'rcN. 0,1;

llNrrnn rares' FFICE@ Artnr STRAINING-WHEEL FOR LIQU'IDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 611,879, dated October 4, 1898.

Application led October. 13, 1897'. Serial No. 655.084. (No model.) Patented in Belgium December 31, 1897, No. 132,769; in France/April 14,1898, No. 273,537, and in Canada May 9. 1898, No. 59,927.

To all whom, t may concern.-

Beit known that I, CHARLES S. WHEEL- WRIGHT, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Straining-Vhee'ls for Liquids and Matters Held in Liquid, (for which I have obtained Letters Patent in France, No. 273,537, dated April 14, 1898; in Belgium, No. 132,769, dated December 31, 1897, andin Canada, No. 59,927, dated May 9, 1898,) of which the following is a specification.

The invention consists in a hollow straining-wheel for liquids and matters held in liquid, narrow at the rim and increasing in radial cross-section or 4width from rim to near its center of rotation, with perforated sides, and lifting-buckets between said sides, as hereinafter fully set forth.

It also consists in details of construction, as also hereinafter set forth.

The invention is of great utility in the manufacture of paper, being of great advantage and economy when used for straining off the wash-water from the pulp in paper-washing machines, and hardly less so when used for straining paper-fillings mechanically held in Water. `In practicing the invention identically the same wheel is used'for either purpose. The wheel may also be used as a strainer for fillings for cotton-cloth, dac., and even as a filter for water used in various manufacturing purposes. Thus where a cottonmill is located above a woolen-mill on the same stream the straining-wheel may be employed to collect and hold back from the water to be used for scouring wool the fibers of v cotton that have got into the water at the cotton-mill. In the paper-washing machine the strained wash-Water passes through the perforations or meshes of the wheel, leaving the pulp material undisturbed; but when the machine is used simply as a strainer of matters mechanically held in water only clear water or matter of desirable iineness can pass through the perforations or meshes.

The straining-wheel embodying my invention, like most washers heretofore used with paper-engines, isvhollow and is provided with internal lifting devices, which discharge the water passing into the interior of the wheel through its meshes, whether wash-water or river-water or Water mechanically holding finely-divided materials, into and through a discharge-pipe about which it revolves, and it can be applied to and used with a paper-engine for washing rags or pulp material with great advantage over any device heretofore contrived for that purpose.

As is well known, it is desirable that the paper-engine shall be kept as full of pulp or pulp material as possible while process of washing is going on, that the flow of the pulp or pulp material shall be unobstructed, and that the washer shall come in contact with all portions of the pulp. It is also well known that the time in which rags can be cleaned depends principally upon the amount of Water that can be passed through the washer.

My invention provides for all the above requisites more fully than any washer heretofore devised.

Owing to the shape of the wheel increasing radially in cross-section, as hereinafter 'described, from rim to hub, the rim being very narrow, the wheel will readily plow through the pulp material, turning all portions of it over with the least possible obstruction toits flow, while owing to the corresponding shape of the buckets or lifters within the wheel, narrow at the rim of the wheel and increasing in width toward the hub, and the-consequent advantage of leverage great quantities of water passing through the meshes or perforations of the Wheel in the extended surfaces of its sides can be lifted and discharged with small expense of power.

lVhen mechanism embodying the invention is employed for straining water mechanically holding finely-divided materials, a single wheel in combination with the discharge-pipe will answer every need; but for washing paper-pulp or paper-pulp material several of the Wheels upon the same discharge-pipe are used to advantage.

For convenience the further description of the invention and mode of operation khere following is more full and exact in reference to the use of a single wheel than Where several are used, needless repetition in the description where several wheels revolve about a single discharge-pipe being avoided; but, as before stated, the wheel is the same for whatever speci c purpose employed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical crosssection of a straining-wheel constructed according to my invention, together with a corresponding cross-section of the dischargepipe, about which the wheel revolves when in operation. 1n the same gure are also shown the vat with which the wheel and dischargepipe are used when the invention is practiced for straining paper-fillings and a part of the adjusting mechanism of the wheel. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the principal parts of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 on the line m of Fig. l. device. Fig. -i is a horizontal cross-section of apparatus in which three straining-wheels are employed with a single horizontal discharge-pipe. Figs. 5, G, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are illustrative of details of construction hereinafter particularly explained. Fig. 12 is a diagram representing the application of my invention to a paper-engine.

The same letters of reference are used so far as may be in the several figures for the same or corresponding parts whatever may be the application of the invention represented in any particular figure. Numerals are sometimes used with the letters to distinguish different applications of the invention, as will be readily understood.

For clearness the application of the invention to a vat in which asingle straining-wheel is employed will be first and more particularly described.

V is the vat. Any tank of proper dimensions will answer the purpose; but at Figs. 1 and 2 the vat of a strainer for paper-llings isshown, it being provided with a pipe Y and a chamber A, through which water containing the fillings to be strained enters the main portion of the vat.

S and S are two hollow shafts with bearings, as shown, at the sides of the vat, the two said shafts being bolted together, as also shown and as will be more fully described, in order that they may turn together under power applied to shaft S by means of the sprocket-wheel G, rigidly secured to said shaft S.

C C' are two caps bolted to the sides of the vat to hold the hollow shafts S S' in place.

H is a discharge-pipe about which the straining-wheel revolves.` It is open at one end, and at that end enters the hollow revolving shaft S with a close fit, so, that said hollow revolving shaft S turns freely about it, while at the other end, which is closed, it is provided with a projection or rod l, which passes through a hollow inward projection o within the shaft S', which latter shaft, turning with the shaft S, to which it is bolted, as aforesaid, thus turns freely about said projection Z.

The discharge-pipe H is provided with a slot Z), through which water may enter from the Fig. 3 is an adjusting straining-wheel, as hereinafter described, and it may itself turn within the hollow shafts S and S', but during the operation of the straining-wheel, or the operation of the mechanism in which the straining-wheel is embodied, is prevented from doing so, and its desired adjustment, and consequently the desired adjustment of the slot b, secured by means of a ratchet T, held upon a squared end of projection or rod Z bya screw-nut n and a dog t, pivoted to the vat, as shown. (See Figs. 1 and D is an outlet-pipe arranged, as shown, to receive water flowing through discharge-pipe H and then through hollow shaft S.

The apparatus thus far described in detail does not differ substantially from apparatus found in machines for washing paper-pulp provided with washing-cylinders, except, perhaps, in the size and form of the vat.

It remains to describe the wheel forming the distinguishing feature of my invention and its embodiment in practical machinery.

W is the straining-wheel. Like a bicyclewheel, it has a narrow rim m, made of wood, and an extended hub, or, more exactly speaking, a double hub, consisting of two flat rings P and P', also made of wood, and again, like the bicycle-wheel, it has two sets of spokes 7a and 7o' diverfrino from the common rim m and secured at their inner ends, one set to the said plate P and the other set to the said plate P. Vire-gauze g is nailed in sections on both sides of the wheel to the rim m, to the hub-rings P and P', and to some of the spokes 7.: and 7c', the said spokes to which the gauze is nailed being made of wood and larger and stronger than the others for this purpose and also for the support of the rim m. A tire m surrounds the whole, as shown; but while some of the spokes 7c and 7c are made large and are of wood for the purpose stated most of them are strips of thin metal bent or twisted somewhat like the arms of a common windmill, so that in the revolution of the wheel they tend to draw water into the inte- :rior of the wheel or tend to throw water passing through the meshes of the wheel toward its interior. A single spoke of the metal kind is shown at Fig. 11. Each metal spoke at its hub end is driven into its hub or held in a slot in its hub, as shown in some instances at Fig. 2, while at its rim end it is secured to the rim m by a screw; but the twisted form given to the metal spokes is merely a refinement of the invention. Small round meta-l rods would answer everypurpose. The spokes of the wheel as a whole prevent the wiregauze from caving inward. There is thus formed a hollow basket-wheel, narrow at the rim and increasing in thickness or in radial cross-section from the rim to the hub or center, with meshes or perforations at the sides, and it will readily be seen that a wheel of this construction, whether or not provided with internal lifting devices, as next explained, will pass through matters of considerable IOO IIO

density or through water containing matters of considerable density with facility.

B B, &c., are buckets or boats withinthe wheel, rigidly attached thereto, for lifting the washwater or other Water which passes through the meshes or perforations of the wheel as the latter revolves and discharging the same into the discharge-pipe H, which has a slot b to receive the same. These buckets conform in shape largely to the construc- -tion of the above-described basket-wheel,

within which they are secured, being narrow at the nose or the end near the rim of the wheel, to which the said end is secured by screws, the said end being provided with a projecting lip e (see Figs. 2 and 8) for that purpose and increasing in width or radial cross-section to the opposite or rear end, over which as the wheel revolves the contents of the bucket are discharged into the slot b in the discharge-pipe H. Near the rear end of the bucket its sides are turned (see Figs. 1 and 9) at an angle, so as to be parallel to the hub-plates P and P', to which they are secured by screws. l(Not shown.)

A cross-section of one of the buckets, taken radially in the wheel, is shown at Fig. 8. A plan of the same bucket, taken on the same radial line, is shown at Fig. 9, and a crosssection at right angles to the cross-section shown at Fig. 8, taken midway between the two ends of the bucket or midway between the hubs and the rim of the wheel, is shown at Fig. 10. It will be seen that the general V shape of the bucket, as shown in plan at Fig. 9, is favorable to the easy lifting of the contents of the bucket, the heavier part of the load being near the center of rotation, that the inclination of the lower part of the stern or broad end of the bucket, as shown in Fig. 8, is favorable to the easy discharge of the contents of the bucket into the dischargepipe H through slot b, and that the inclined sides of the bucket near the bottom, as shown in Fig. l0, are favorable to the admission of water through the sides of the wheel to ll the neXt succeeding bucket. This latter provision permits the use of a greater number of buckets within the wheel than could be used if the sides of the bucket were straight throughout and the bottom wide and flat.

R R, Src., are four bolts or rods passing through flanges on the two hollow shafts S and S' and secured by screw-nuts w, as shown. They pass also through the hub-plates P and P' of the hollow basket-wheel W and secure the same, so that the said wheel revolves with the shafts S and S', t0 which power is communicated, as before stated. Itis immaterial whether or not these bolts or rods R pass through the lifting-buckets.

The application of the wheel for washing paper-pulp is illustrated in Fig. 4. (See also the diagram Fig. 12.) As before stated, the

wheel itself is the same wheel that is used simply for straining matters mechanically held in water; but in washing pulp several wheels are employed in connection with a single discharge-pipe, such as is shown at Figs. l and 2. Thus in the drawings at Figs. 4 and l2 three wheels V2 W2 W2 are shown in connection with the single discharge-pipe H2. The three wheels W2 72 W2, however, have but a single set of hollow shafts S and S', to which they are bolted and with which they revolve, flanged sleeves d d being employed to separate the wheels along the pipe H2. These sleeves d revolve about the pipe H2 with the hollow shafts S and S', the lengthened rods R, which pass through the flanges For the more uniform discharge of water from apparatus4 in which several strainingwheels are used with a single discharge-pipe provision is made that the corresponding buckets of the several wheels shall empty into the discharge-pipe one after the other in regular succession instead of all three buckets at the same time. This is accomplished by making the several slots b2, through which the several wheels respectively discharge their contents into the pipe H2, in the same straight line and setting the second wheel a little behind the first and the third a little behind the second, as illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, and 7. Thus when there are three wheels of eight buckets each bucket will approach the slot one twenty-fourth of a revolution of the wheel behind the preceding bucket.

It has been stated above that the improved straining-wheel' resembles the old Washingcylinder of paper-washing machines in discharging the lifted water into a dischargepipe, about which it revolves. It may be added that the new washing device, consisting mainly of several basket-wheels, such as have been above described in connection with a single discharge-pipe, may, like the old cylinder with its discharge-pipe, be attached to the vat of a paper-engine or the vat in which the paper-pulp material is ground. This arrangement is illustrated by a diagram at Fig. l2, where W2 W2 W2 represent three wheels constructed and arranged as shown at Figs. 4:, 5, 6, and 7, V2 being the vat of a paper-engine or so much thereof as it is necessary to show. F2 is the mid-feather of the paper-engine, and G2 the grinding-roll or the roll car rying the grinding-bars, which, however, it is not necessary to show, nor is it necessary to show the bed-plate with which they operate to grind the pulp. The discharge-pipe H2, including the hollow shafts S and S', (not distinguished in the diagram,) extends from one side of the vat to the mid-feather, as shown.

Power is communicated to the wheels from the shaft of the grinding-roll, as indicated in the drawings, and the wheels turn in the pulp, which is kept in continual motion around the mid-feather by the bars upon the grinding-roll in the ordinary manner.

IOO

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I claiml. Ahollow straining-wheel for liquids and matters held in liquid, narrow at the rim and increasing in radial cross-section or width from rim to hub, or from rim to near its center of rotation, with perforated sides and lifting-buckets between said sides, substantially as described.

2. A hollow straining-wheel for liquids and matters held in liquid, narrow at the rim and of increasing width in radial cross-section from rim to hub, with perforated sides and lifting-buckets between said sides, the said liftingbuckets conforming in longitudinal cross-section to a radial cross-section of the wheel, substantially as described.

3. A hollow straining-wheel for liquids and matters held in liquid, narrow at the rim and of increasing width in radial cross-section from rim to hub, with perforated sides and lifting-buckets between said sides, the said lifting-buckets conforming in longitudinal cross-section to a radial cross-section of the wheel and having inclined or sloping` sides and rear, substantially asl described.

4. A hollow straining-wheel for liquids and matters held in liquid, narrow at the rim and of increasing width in radial cross-section from rim to hub with two sets of spokes diverging, one set from the other from rim to hub, and provided with wire-gauze upon each side and lifting-buckets within, between said sides, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a hollow dischargepipe, of a hollow straining-wheel for liquids and matters held in liquid adapted to revolve about said discharge-pipe, the said wheel being narrow at the rim and of increasing Width in radial cross-section from rim to hub, and provided with perforated sides and liftingbuckets between said sides, and the said discharge-pi pe being provided with a slot adapted to receive the contents of said buckets, as said wheel revolves about said dischargepipe,sub stantially as described. l

6. The combination with a single hollow discharge-pipe, of a number of hollow straining-wheels for liquids and matters held' in liquid adapted to revolve together about said discharge-pipe, the said wheels being each narrow at the rim and of increasing width in radial cross-section from rim to hub, and provided with perforated sides and lifting-buckets between them, and the said discharge-pipe being provided with slots adapted to receive the contents of said buckets successively one after the other as said wheels revolve around it substantially as described.

CHARLES S. WHEELVVRlGI-l'l.

Attest:

IDA E. HANDREN, GEO. WILLIS PIERCE. 

